An aerial view of a portion of the Texas City port area before the 1947 disaster including the SeaTrain loading crane, warehouses, refinery facilities, and storage tanks.

An aerial view of the refinery facilities and the storage tank farm in Texas City before the 1947 Disaster. The smoke stack and power house is also visible on the far left. A residential area can be seen on the far right in the distance.

An aerial view of the Pan American Refinery in Destrehan, Louisiana in 1947.

An aerial view of the Pan American Refinery complex in Destrehan, Louisiana in 1947.

At the far left, one small biplane sits on a runway. Two men are near that plane. Off the runway, in the grass, is a small airplane with a prop engine on the right wing. It's call number is NC65212. There are barrels and what appears to be an engine part near the plane. Further in the distance is another small plane parked in the grass.

A view of part of the business district in Texas City before the 1947 Texas City Disaster. Cars are parked along both sides of the street and are driving down the roads of a four-way intersection. Stores and businesses line the right side of the streets. On the left side a large flag pole stands near the corner. Down the left side of the street, a two-story building can be seen. People are walking or standing along the sidewalks in front of the stores. A bus is pulled up near one corner of the intersection. On the far right, the two nearest businesses have signs which read "Clar[r?]'s Liquor Store" and "Lucas Cafe." Further down the street are signs reading "Plaza Hotel" and "Nusbaum's."

Two rows of parked cars line the street in front of stores in the business district.

Photo of Memorial Gym under construction. Austin, Texas.

Photo of Memorial Gym under construction. Austin, Texas.

Military personnel look at the ruins of machinery and vehicles near the railroad tracks. One man looks directly at the camera while two others look away. In the foreground, the chassis and part of a tank remain of a four-wheeled vehicle. Behind it to the left, the remains of a large tracked vehicle, perhaps a crane, stand amid metal debris. Cables and metal struts extend upward above this ruined vehicle. A large, ruined engine sits on top of the debris. In the background, on raised railroad tracks, two lines of freight cars stand. Damage is visible to the tops and sides of the front row of cars.

A portrait of H. J. Mikeska, President of the Texas City Terminal. On the reverse of the photograph is also written the numbers "2947".

Ralph Irvine served as Mayor of Palestine from 1947 until 1953.

Red Cross Volunteers in Henrietta, TX around 1947 (l to r) Edith Petro, Mary Olsen, Alice Lefevre, Ruby Ninmo, Myrtle Gates, Lee Eddie Heath, Georgia Gilchrist, Alma Stine, Jewell Quisenberry, and Theronne Thompson. They are in uniform holding their caps.

Five cars are parked along a street in front of a long building holding small stores. The store signs read : "Jeweler Hetherington", "Westinghouse Appliances Farmer Bros.", "Allan's Shoes" and "Prescriptions Pharmacy." There is a woman standing looking into the window of the shoe store with other people nearby mostly hidden behind a car; a man in a suit and hat walks along the sidewalk in front of the pharmacy.

A firefighter, standing alongside a fire truck inside the fire station, smiles as he reads a letter. In the background another firefighter watches and smiles.

A photograph of Texas City High School about 1947, located at 14th Avenue and 6th Street. This building later became Blocker Middle School and a new High School was built on 9th Avenue.

Photograph of bride. Photograph of Laura Harriett Toolen Dameron on her wedding day, 1/25/1947, in Van Horn,TX

Photo of Governor Beauford H. Jester signing the bill referred to at that time as the "Negro Bill" . Austin, Texas.

Two unidentified Army staff officers stand in the street near an officer and a motorcycle bearing the license plate ZN TEX-47 2306. Behind the two officers, General Jonathan Wainwright stands on the sidewalk outside the brick building, smoking a pipe. He is surrounded by other Army personnel and one civilian. On the back of the photograph is written "General Wainwright - U.S. Army - helped with rescue efforts April 1947."

An aerial view of the Texas City port before the 1947 Texas City Disaster. The grain elevator, a tank farm, the port facilities, the Monsanto building, the Seatrain loading crane, a smokestack, some refinery facilities and some residential housing can be seen. The print has a handwritten caption at the top: "Texas City Disaster photograph."

An aerial view of the Texas City port before the 1947 Disaster. A large cargo ship is in one of the slips. The grain elevator with the conveyor system, the Seatrain loading crane, warehouses, and docks and piers are identifiable. In the background, part of the residential area of the city is visible.

A view of the dock area and shorelines across from the Seatrain loading crane after the 1947 Texas City Disaster. Clouds of white smoke cover the horizon, and smoke still rises from the debris. The Seatrain loading crane is visible on the far right. Directly across the water from it, unseen firefighters direct a stream of water toward burning debris near shore. The area in the foreground is covered with debris of all kinds including metal and wooden pieces, wire cabling, and an unknown product in fabric bags.

A elevated shot from the rail yards toward the port. View is from above a line of freight cars in the rail yard. Debris lies piled along the line of cars to the far right of the picture. Several men stand on top of one of the cars, while several more stand amid the metal debris below. Another line of rail cars loaded with uniform loads of large forms stands on a parallel set of tracks. In the distance is the grain elevator, a smokestack, two large water towers and the loading structures at the port. Heavy smoke clouds blowing left to right can be seen coming from the port area. The number "#3" is written in the lower right hand corner.

Clouds of very heavy black smoke cover the port area of Texas City after the 1947 Texas City Disaster. An aerial view of some of the residences near the port can be seen in the lower right hand portion of the photograph. On the reverse side is written "Texas City a few hours after the Grandcamp exploded."